The Fukushima and Tohoku Disaster: A Review of the Five-Year Reconstruction Efforts

The Fukushima and Tohoku Disaster: A Review of the Five-Year Reconstruction Efforts covers the outcome of the response, five years later, to the disasters associated with the Great East Japan earthquake on March 11, 2011. The 3.11 disaster, as it is referred to in Japan, was a complex accident, the likes of which humans had never faced before. This book evaluates the actions taken during and after the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident, for which the Japanese government and people were not prepared. The book also provides recommendations for preparing and responding to disasters for those working and living in disaster-prone areas, making it a vital resource for disaster managers and government agencies.

Includes guidelines for governments, communities and businesses in areas where similar complex disasters are likely to occurProvides information, propositions, suggestions and advice from the people that were involved in making suggestions to the Japanese governmentFeatures case studies (both pre- and post-disaster) of three simultaneous disasters: the Great East Japan earthquake, the resulting tsunami, and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster

1 The Great East Japan Earthquake, a Huge Disaster
1.1 Trouble with policies in recovery and reconstruction
1.1.1 Problems in response at the local community level
1.1.2 Problems in response at the prefecture level
1.1.3 Problems in response by the central government
1.1.4 Causes of delays in incomplete recovery and reconstruction projects
1.1.4.1 Did not learn from past lessons
1.1.4.2 There was no wide-area collaboration
1.1.4.3 Reconstruction Charter was incomplete
1.1.4.4 Actions after the disaster and emergency responses are not reviewed
1.2 Quick overview of the 3.11 tsunami generation mechanism
1.3 Tsunami preparation before and after the 3.11 disaster
1.3.1 Tsunami evacuation warnings and advices
1.3.2 Tsunami levee design before the quake
1.3.3 Level-1 (L1) tsunami and Level-2 (L2) tsunami
1.3.4 Problems with constructing tsunami levee
1.4 Troubles in the efforts of revitalizing local communities
1.4.1 Lack of coordination from the start
1.4.2 A case study of Rikuzen Takata pine field
1.4.3 House rebuilding out-of-sync
1.5 Promoting disaster mitigation policies
1.5.1 Newly developed disaster mitigation policies
1.5.2 “The worst disaster scenario” and “disaster prevention and mitigation in the
mainstream”
1.5.3 Disasters at their new stage
1.6 Disaster resilience and homeland reinforcement
1.6.1 Pictures of new disasters to plan against with Homeland Grand Design 2050
and National Spatial Planning
1.6.2 Disaster resilience
1.6.2.1 Timeline
1.6.2.2 After Action Review (AAR)